On Wednesday, Cate School elected 12 seniors, including Santa Barbara residents Lexi Greenwald and Linzy Prudden, to be initiated into the Cum Laude Society, a society founded to recognize excellence in the academic work of secondary school students.

Students are inducted into the society based on the quality of their academic work, but the society requires that the schools also keep in mind its motto of Areté, the ancient Greek word for excellence, Diké, Greek for justice, and Timé, honor, and that they choose only students who have demonstrated good character, honor and integrity in all aspects of school life.

“These newest members of the Cum Laude Society have been models of academic excellence at Cate,” director of studies Lisa Holmes said. “They are accomplished mathematicians, scientists and linguists, writers of extraordinary talent and artists who have pushed us to see the world in a new way. They are also athletes who have led their teams as captains, public servants who have asked us to look beyond this community and leaders in our student government. In a community that values a life of the mind, they have showed us how rich that life can be, and in two, three and four years at Cate they have taken full advantage of their gifts.”

Guest speaker of the evening was award-winning journalist and author Caitlin Flanagan. Before becoming a writer, she was an English teacher for 10 years and a college counselor — endeavors that together resulted in the 2001 Atlantic essay titled “Confessions of a Prep School College Counselor.”

Flanagan spoke about how our critics will always be lurking nearby to undermine us, but we need not let them.

“There’s always going to be someone who tells you that the things you love make you different. There’s always going to be someone whispering behind your back. There’s always going to be someone doing everything in his power to shame you out of being who you really are,” she said. “And the worst thing you can ever do in your life is to let [that person] win. Because if you try to change yourself for [that person] you’ll just be less of who you are.”

In addition to Greenwald and Prudden, the Cate students inducted were Liana Corwin of Menlo Park, Megan Falvey of San Francisco, Josef Gottwald of Carpinteria, Byoungwook Jang of Seoul, South Korea, Janet Kim of Diamond Bar, Nathan Li of La Verne, Mark Mullan of Carpionteria, Harley Sugarman of Montecito, Edgar Velasco of Santa Ana and Mackenzie Walsh of Bozeman, Mont.

— Don Orth is the director of communications for Cate School.